Sweet Talk Don't Win Me Over
by Aishwarya
Summary: In which Tony heads his own team in Pearl Harbour and a meeting with Steve is inevitable. Tony angsts, Steve flirts, Danny snarks and Kono is just a really delighted observer of it all.


**Title: **Sweet Talk Don't Win Me Over

**Pairing:**Steve McGarrett/Tony DiNozzo

**Word Count:** 18, 980

**Rating: **R

**Disclaimer:** Fanfiction. Look it up.

_**Summary:** In which Tony heads his own team in Pearl Harbour and a meeting with Steve is inevitable. Tony angsts, Steve flirts, Danny snarks and Kono is just a really delighted observer of it all. _

**Author's Note:** I am _fully_ a Steve/Danny and Tony/Gibbs sort of girl but then I read Shadeshifters Steve/Tony fics and was hooked on this pairing. I didn't really expect it to turn into this moster of a fic though. Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

The sky was a crystalline shade of blue, clear and endless and frankly, pretty darn annoying. Normally Tony would be chomping at the bit to spend some time in Hawaii. Sun, sea and girls in really tiny bikini's, how could anyone _not_ want to spend time here?

But that had been then, when Tony's world had not been perfect but it had been pretty darn close. And then it turned out that his boss was every bit as selfish and even more of a bastard than he made himself out to be and Tony had been informed that he was nothing more than an underling, a dog who was expected to be good and follow orders and not bark at it's owner. Talk about an eye opener.

Sighing, Tony pushed the thoughts from his mind and turned his attention back to the files he'd been perusing. He'd arrived in Hawaii yesterday but Vance was eager for him to start as soon as possible and, if Tony were honest with himself, he wasn't keen on having time to wallow either. So he would be meeting his new team tomorrow, a couple of agents with varying backgrounds and levels of experience and who, by now, would have alreadybeen informed that they'd been appointed a new team lead. So, basically, it was too late to back out.

Tony had already been through these folders a handful of times each and had memerised any and all pertinent information, that is to say, all of it. His team in Hawaii is smaller than the one he's used to. Just himself and two other agents called Sally-Ann Cherish (who preferred to go as Sach, pronounced Satch) and Robert Alfred Worthington. Even on Hawaii, it seemed there was no escaping the British.

Sach's file put her at 5"5 and just barely 130 pounds soaking wet. She was born and raised in Nowhere, Kentucky before leaving on a full ride to Brown, majoring in law and international politics. Somewhere along the way she'd decided to go the law enforcement route and had promptly enrolled in FLETC upon graduation. From there she'd served with the with the FBI in Anchorage for three years before applying for, and getting a post with the NCIS office in Naples. She'd spent another two years there before accepting a transfer back home to Hawaii seven month ago. Sally-Ann Cherish could also speak five languages and was third-dan black belt in Tae-kwon Do.

Robert Alfred Worthington, on the other hand, was twenty three years old and had spent twenty two of them on Oahu after his family had emmigrated back to the states, specifically, back to his Hawaiian mother's home island. He had attended school on the island before joining the police force instead of attending college. A year later he'd applied to the Pearl Harbour office and had just graduated the local FLETC programme two months ago. What he lacked in experience he made up for in sheer size. Standing at a very intimidating 6"8 and with his mother's colouring, Rob had been a nationally ranked wrestler during his high school days and it showed. None of his physique had been lost to flab even once he'd given up the sport upon graduation and Tony was very, very thankful that Robert Worthington was one of the good guys.

With another sigh, Tony flipped the folders closed and let his head fall back to rest against the back of the sofa. He was staying in a hotel until he could find a place of his own and so far, had managed to do a bit of preliminary browsing online. Prices in Hawaii were ridiculous but Tony's salary had increased to refelect his promotion and, apparently, team leaders really had no reason to complain about goverment wages. Tomorrow, Tony would report for work in his rented car and hopefully be able to snag some time during his lunch break to buy his own transport. Sedans really weren't his style and, whilst he'd love another classic like his Mustang, the upkeep under the salty island air would be a nightmare. Any modern sports car would do instead.

If any of his old team had heard him talk this way they would probably arrest him under the suspicion that someone was doing a very bad DiNozzo impersonation but, _please_, like there was anyone else with his bone structure? Jokes aside, Tony had very quickly come to realise that his team, his boss, had had a very different interpretation to the team dynamic that Tony did. Whilst Tony knew he was annoying and a little immature, he thought that Gibbs and the rest of the guys had accepted it as part of who he was, just as he had accepted them and their personality quirks. And McGee, Abby, Ziva, Ducky...they probably did. They probably saw their team as a dysfunctional little family much the way Tony did but Gibbs...Gibbs had outright told him, in no uncertain terms, that Tony was a _subordinate_ and one who should have learned by now to shut up and follow orders because Tony's opinion was unwanted.

It had been over something so trivial too, a routine investigation into the a B and E at a marine Corporal's home. Nothing of consquence had been taken (other than jewellery and a few other valuables) and the inhabitants, the Corporals wife and child, had escaped scared but unharmed. Corporal Milton was on duty in Iraq and had talked to his family but, since no harm had come to them, had not been granted leave to return stateside.

Gibbs had ordered that the neighbourhood security be interviewed for thoroughness because although they had pulled hairs from the scene, no DNA match had been found.

With no prints to go on and generic clothes fibres being the only other evidence, Gibbs' frustration had reached boiling point. Tony had suggested that it were an inside job, the Corporal or his wife setting up a birglary to collect on insurance and Gibbs had snapped. He'd grabbed Tony's collar, dragged him to the elevator and proceeded to inform him in no uncertain terms about his place on the team and what exactly he was expected to contribute.

Tony had brushed it off as the usual, albeit slightly more pronounced, second B syndrome but, when the case had closed and Tony had been proven right, Gibbs had not so much as glanced in his direction. Similar occurences happened on the next case, and the one following that until it reached the point that Tony was afraid to so much as breathe in Gibbs presence. He'd tried talking to his boss, several times, unsure of what exactly he'd done wrong and how to fix it. Each and every time he'd been shot down harder and more efficiently than the last.

The rest of the team were at a loss too. None of them could explain the sudden turnabout in Gibbs' behaviour and their own attempts to pry answers from the boss had been equally unsuccessful. It had gotten to the point that Tony had been a hairs breath away from tendering his resignation because he just _could not_ work in such an environment and that had been when Vance had offered Tony the promotion.

Abby had cried. Ziva had mostly definitely teared up and McGee had tried not to look as uncomfortable as he felt but had, predictably, failed miserably. Ziva had thrown Tony a going away dinner and the entire team plus a couple of other NCIS agents had turned up, along with one or two of his frat buddies and few friends from Baltimore he'd kept in contact with. Gibbs had not shown up. Tony had gone to Gibbs' house to say goodbye because, as strained and volatile as their relationship had become, Tony owed Gibbs a lot and just did not feel right about leaving without seeing the older man. He shouldn't have bothered. Tony had barely gotten the words 'came to say goodbye' out before Gibbs was glaring him out of his home.

And so Tony had moved to Hawaii and was one evening away from meeting his new team. The team he _is in charge of_. Fuck it but that deserves a drink. So Tony grabbed his keys, phone and wallet, sliding them into his pocket before ambling out into the warm, early evening air. The hotel was posh and the room was on the agency's dime but the bar looked too fill of people in suits for Tony's taste and so he decided to take the short walk to the beach and stride along the promenade, idly looking for a place that's neither too busy nor too quiet. Eventually a voice filters out from one of the outside tables of a casual, sporty looking joint, cheekily name Hula-Hula. The accent, Jersey if Tony is placing it correctly, rises easily above the low murmur of the crowd but it is the guy's words that catch Tony's attention.

"Seriously, how do you guys _not get_ what a travesty this is? Fruit and pizza just do not mix, okay? They don't. And I know I sound like a broken record here but I _will keep repeating it_ until someone here finally listens and learns how to make a real pizza. One without fruit!"

The guy is blond, his hair brushed back and held neatly in place with product and his shirtlsleeves are rolled up to his elbows. Also he is wearing a tie. But Tony can forgive the man for breaking the rules because really, a tie? In Hawaii? But Tony can forgive the appalling fashion sense because this man has inadvertently informed him that the bar serves pizza. And okay, yeah, fruit is a no-no but Tony can explain that to the waiter. Problem solved and also, hello, pizza.

So Tony slid through the tangle of tables at the entrance and made his way to the bar, giving the menu a quick preusal before placing his order and emphasising the _no pineapple_. The bartender merely rolled his eyes, mumbling something about haole's under his breath before pushing his way into the kitchen to relay the order. Tony grinned, the sea air and pleasant hum of conversation, pulling the smile from him and he was suddenly very, very glad he'd decided to leave the hotel for a while.

"My friend would approve," a low, husky voice said from behind him and Tony's eyebrows lifted as he turned and met large blue eyes framed by the longest lashes he had ever seen.

"Sorry?" Tony asked, wondering if the guy had mistaken him for someone else.

"No pineapple on your pizza?" The guy slid onto the stool next to Tony, "My friend would approve."

"Sounds like your friend's got good taste," Tony remarked, turning back to his drink. The guy was gorgeous, all dark hair and blue eyes and _muscle_ but he was also very obviously military and Tony had had enough of jarheads for the moment.

"So what brings you to Hawaii?" the guy asked and Tony stifled a sigh of impatience. Instead he took a deep breath and reminded himself not to be rude to people who were being nice to you simply because you were having a shitty day.

"Work," Tony turned to face the jarhead. "I just transferred over from DC."

"Let me guess," blue eyes raked over Tony, sharp and more than a little interested and it was all Tony could do to supress a shiver, "you're a cop? You joining HPD?"

"Close," Tony smiled and couldn't help but turn even more towards that blue gaze. "I'm with NCIS."

"Really?" The guy's eyebrows lifted. "DC you said? I know a guy from the LA office, Sam Hanna."

"Dude!" Tony's interest was now fully peaked. "We worked a joint case together, like, a couple years ago!"

"No way," The guys smile widened and there was a moment of silence as the two men marvelled over cliche's about the size of the world before the jarhead extended his hand.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, head of the Governer's task force."

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," green eyes glinted as Tony met the handshake halfway. "But you can call me Tony."

"You can call me Commander," Steve teased and Tony laughed and for the first time in weeks, Gibbs was the last thing on his mind.

His good mood lasted all the way through the night and into the next morning. More precisely, until he opened his eyes to be greeted by blue skies and sunshine and the memory of what day it was. Tony's default position was to put on his newest suit, and newest shoes and newest tie and fiddle with his hair until it was perfect and spend extra time brushing his teeth. Unfortunately this was Hawaii and the effect of Armani would only be ruined by sweat stains.

After a bit of deliberation, Tony put tugged on a pair of designer jeans in a blue so dark it looked black and into that was tucked a perfectly pressed, collared shirt with short sleeves. His belt and shoes were genuine leather, Italian in make and his watch glinted on his wrist. He spent a long time making sure his hair was perfect and, as Tony surveyed himself in a mirror, he decided that the end effect was acceptable.

The shine on his shoes, watch and belt buckle added a touch of class and his jeans and shirt were light but exceptionally well tailored. The overall effect was professional without being obnoxiously overdressed for the heat. He even left the top down on his rental as he drove, turning the music up loud and humming along to the songs. He stopped at a cafe near the base and picked up three large coffee's with extra cream and sugar on the side along with what the barista had called malasada's. They were made of dough, and fried and dusted with sugar and close enough to Krispy Kreme's for Tony to be satisfied.

Getting through security was simple enough since his badge and gun were waiting for him and the NCIS quarters on the naval base wasn't exceptionally large, just barely enough for an office and, forensics, autopsy and communications centres. There was no canteen but there was a gym and Tony was thankful for small luxuries. His team was waiting for him when he arrived promptly at 7 am and he gave them both points for punctuality. After him, the only authority on this base was the Naval Commanders and it was good that they didn't need to be told to arrive early today.

"Good morning," Tony grinned as he strode up to them. "I'm Anthony DiNozzo, your new boss. You can call me whatever you want except for Anthony."

"Sally-Ann Cherish," the petite blonde extended a hand. She was even tinier than Tony had imagined. "Ya call me anything other than Sach, sugar, an' I'll kick yer ass, with all due respect of course."

Tony's grin widened and he merely inclined his head in response. He always did like the gutsy ones. Especially when they came complete with cute southern accents.

"I'm Rob," the probie was even larger than Tony had imagined but he shrank a little beneath Tony's gaze. "G-glad to have you here, Sir."

"So, let's give the Director a call, shall we?" He suggested and the trio made their way up to the communications room.

Vance had been expecting their call and was available to talk when they rang.

"DiNozzo," Vance greeted and Tony could swear he almost smiled. "Good to see you arrived safely. I trust everythig is progressing smoothly."

"Yes Sir," Tony nodded. "I'm going to get Agents Cherish and Worthington to give me the lay of the land once we're done here."

"Good," Vance nodded. "Just to let you know the way things will work. Pearl Harbour is a skeleton crew so your calls will come from the bases general dispatch who are notified everytime a crime involving one of theirs is committed. You will report in to me every morning and more often if need be. As of now, DiNozzo, you and your team are the NCIS representatives for all eight islands and their surrounding islets. And you, Agent DiNozzo are the Senior Agent. I am sure you will do the role justice,"

"Thank you, Director," Tony said as he nodded his acknowledgement and wondered what sort of twilight zone he'd stepped into. Since when did Vance ever have a good word to say about him?

"Agents Cherish and Worthington," the two in question stepped forward as they were addressed. "Agent DiNozzo had been a part of the MCRT here in DC for just over ten years and has been SFA for nine of those. He is extremely capable and I am sure you will both learn a lot from him."

"Yes, Sir," Sach and Rob replied in unison and Tony's smile was genuine as they bid the Director farewell. He didn't know where all this goodwill was coming from but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Alright you two," Tony turned the full power of his grin on his new team and both responded to it, "Why don't you show me round this joint and then we'll pay a visit to the shooting range. Please say this place has a shooting range because if we have to use HPDs I will _die_."

Sach and Rob laughed, as they were meant to and Tony clapped them both on the shoulder as they led the way, determined to not make the same mistakes Gibbs had. You lured so many more flies with honey. As luck would have it, they didn't make it to the shooting range that day. Tony's phone rang just as they finished the tour of the facilites and he answered with a curt,

"DiNozzo."

"Agent DiNozzo, this is Pearl Harbour dispatch. There was a reported B and E at the house of Ensign Luke Cordwell, the address of which is being forwarded to your tablet."

"Thanks, we're on it." Tony said and hung up the call, already reaching for his tablet. One thing about the Pearl Harbour office...it was _very _ tech savvy.

"Okay kiddies," Tony said as his fingers flew over the screen, sending the information to his team, "We've got our first case. Grab your gear and meet me at the scene."

To their credit, neither Sachs nor Rob asked questions. It was obvious that Rob wanted to but he took his cue from Sachs and obediently followed the older woman as she grabbed her backpack and jogged towards the garage where the truck was waiting, thankfully full stocked. Tony supressed a smile and gathered his things as well, scooping up his tablet and it's charger and assorted plugins before striding towards his car.

He arrived at the scene first, using the GPS on his tablet to guide him, but only by mere moments and his team were pulling up even as he was sliding out of his car. They flashed their badges to the HPD men manning the perimeter before ducking under the crime scene tape and making their way into the house.

"All right," Tony said. "Rob, start photographing the scene, but bring the camera to me before moving from one area to the next okay. I wanna see your technique. Sachs, with me. We're gonna talk to the owners."

"Yes Sir," Rob saluted and Sachs nodded before following behind him.

Ensign Cordwell was an average man, average height, unassuming features, and normal speech patterns with nothing to distinguish him from the crowd. Tony let Sachs speak to both Cordwell and his girlfriend, watching as she lowered her voice to deal with the shocked couple, her southern drawl putting them at ease with little apparent effort. He stepped in only to redirect a couple of questions and to ask one or two of his own but, on the whole, he was confident Sachs could conduct a good interview.

Rob's photography technique, on the other hand, needed a little work. Lack of experience meant that Rob didn't know how to look for details and missed the little things. It was to be expected and Tony didn't mind showing him the way, pointing out the errors and smiling, clapping the younger man on the back to take the sting from his words.

The intruder was obviously inexperienced. He'd left footprints and fibres and hair all over the place. He also took both Cordwell's and his girlfriends phones. Cordwell's was new and expensive and could be tracked but it was highly likely that it had already been discarded. Still, there were a lot of different angles to follow up and the investigation would give Tony a good insight into his people's thought processes and investigative skills.

Thankfully, it turned out to be a pretty routine case. The fibres from the clothes all turned out to be pretty generic but DNA from hair left on the scene pulled up the records of one Henry Jonas, a nineteen year old native with a handful of minor offences on his rap sheet. Also, he hadn't discarded the phone. All things considered, Tony couldn't have asked for a better first case with his team.

Weeks later Tony would look back and realise that that first case had set something of a precedent. Life at NCIS:Hawaii was hectic and a constant bustle of small cases, harrassment against Naval personnel and burglaries peppered through by the major cases. Because of the sheer scope of the land the Pearl Harbour office oversaw, there was never a shortage of work for the team. In DC, there was an entire building of NCIS teams and the MCRT did what it said on the wrapping, handled the major cases.

Here, they did the same but they didn't have the luxury of pawning off the smaller cases on other teams. There were no other teans for one but Tony kinda thought it was good experience, for Rob especially. Tony himself had cut his teeth on police work and Ziva had been incredibly well trained but Tim, through virtue of his talent with computers, had been thrown straight into the deep end and his inexperience had meant Tony had spent the early years trying to teach both him and Kate (who hadn't been much of an investigator either) all while handling being Gibbs' SFA. Compared to that, Sachs and Rob were a dream. They listened to his orders, voiced any questions politely and were content to defer to his experience. Most importantly, they didn't expect him to hold their hands.

Two weeks after moving to Hawaii, Tony started running in the mornings. He hadn't gotten around to buying an apartment yet but the beach was close by and sometimes he finished his run off with a swim. The salt air was good for his lungs and he enjoyed the challenge of regaining the level of fitness he'd enjoyed before the plague. He'd made full use of the NCIS gym in DC but there was nothing quite like the still morning air, the sounds of the waves lapping against the beach and the seagulls overhead, the distant hum of Honolulu coming to life.

Two weeks and three days after Tony had moved to Hawaii he met Steve McGarrett during his morning run. Steve was coming from a swim, the water making his dark hair stick to his head and glinting against the planes of his chest and torso, his _fucking ripped_ chest and torso. Something curled, heavy and slow in Tony's gut and it took all of his willpower and undercover expertise combined to keep his smile unaffected.

"Hey! DiNozzo!" Steve grinned as he came jogging up to Tony then fell into step with him as easily as breathing.

"Commander," Tony's voice came out lower than he intended but he pretended not to notice and glanced at Steve from the corner of his eyes and watched as Steve's grin widened.

"So, scuttlebut has it that you guys have been tearing it up around these islands," Steve's voice was casual. "Defending the honour of the Navy and all that."

"You're SEAL aren't you?" Tony accused. "Only special forces are so damn one-track minded."

"Guilty as charged," Steve grinned. "But seriously, it's been getting around. You guys are doing a good job."

Tony thought about that for a moment, Hawaii might be an island but it wasn't _that_ small. There was only one reason for gossip about NCIS to be so prominent.

"A good job?" He repeated Steve's words. "As opposed to?"

Surprise flashed briefly through the blue eyes that turned Tony's way before Steve chuckled, low and soft.

"Let's just say your predecessor took the island mentality a little too seriously. Five-0 covered a lot of the Navy cases before you arrived."

"Really?" Tony's eyebrows rose. "Well I'm sorry to deprive you of the priveledge of...how did you put it? Defending the honour of the Navy and all that."

"No you're not," Steve's grin was broad, his teeth white against the brilliance of his tan.

"No I'm not," Tony agreed with a laugh and started to slow his strides as he approached the car park.

"So, listen," Steve said as they came to a stop, "the team usually meet at Hula-Hula on Fridays, if we're not in the middle of a case. You should bring your guys over tonight, you know, hang out."

"Hang out," Tony repeated. "Your team and my team?"

"Yeah," Steve grinned again and he really needed to stop doing that because Tony's running shorts were kinda thin. "It'll be cool. So, I'll see you there? Round 7?"

"Sure," Tony acquiesed. "If we're free we'll be there."

"Excellent," Steve's grin widened and he clapped Tony on the shoulder. "Later, brah."

"See you round, Steve," Tony waves as the other man get's into his jeep and peels off, tires squealing against the gravel. Yes, that's right, gravel. Maybe being a speed demon was a pre-requisite of being special forces?

As luck would have it, they didn't catch any cases that day and Tony got his first opportunity to spend the entire day putting his team through their paces. From the shooting range, they went to the gym for sparring practice from their they did an inventory of the van and their supplies before Tony set them off to work on cold cases while he took a call from Vance.

"How are things working out, DiNozzo," Vance asked, his voice crackling a little through the screen.

"Pretty well, Sir," Tony admitted. "Agents Cherish and Worthington are good, very capable, very willing to learn. Agent Cherish, in particular, has a talent with suspects. It's like all their inhibitions fall around her. Most of the time, we don't even have to offer deals."

"Good," Vance sat back in his chair and laced his fingers together. "That's very good. What about Worthington?"

"He's very wet around the ears," Tony admitted. "But he's a fast learner and a hard worker, not afraid to ask questions. He's got a lot of potential."

"Well keep at it, DiNozzo," Vance says and stands. Tony is sure he's going to end the call when he speaks again and beckons to someone off-screen. "Jackie is waiting up for me but there are some people here who want to talk to you. Don't keep the techs up to long."

And with that Vance disappeared off screen as a gaggle of faces filled Tony's vision.

"Tony!" Abby beamed as she appeared in front of the camera followed by McGee, Ziva, Palmer and Ducky.

"Hey guys," Tony's lips curved into a pleased smile of their own accord. "What gives? Vance is letting you guys use NCIS resources for a social call?"

"We kept bugging him until he caved," Abby admitted, bouncing a little as her smile grew. "It's awesome to see you though. E-mails just don't cut it. You look _fantastic_ Tony!"

"Thanks," Tony laughed. "It's all this sea air. So what have you guys been up to? Still solving cases without me?"

"Trying to," McGee admits and it's a sign of how much he'd missed Tony that there isn't a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "It's harder with just three of us."

"Gibbs has been a _bear_," Ziva added. "I have never seen him so grouchy before."

"Yes you have," Tony pushed down the flash of hurt and anger that curled his gut at the mention of Gibbs and forced his lips into a smirk, "It just used to be directed at me."

"I think he misses you, Tony," Abby whispered, glancing back over her shoulder even though Gibbs had most likely gone home already. "He just won't admit it."

"Don't be daft," Tony couldn't contain a snort of derision. "He's probably delighted I've left and, what were his words? Oh yes, I can't 'annoy the fuck out of him with lame-ass and pointless movie quotes'."

"I am sure he did not mean it quite the way it sounded, my boy," Ducky spoke. "But if I might enquire? Have you been exercising, Anthony? There is a flush to you cheeks that is really quite becoming and you look much healthier than last I saw you."

"Thanks Ducky," Tony grinned. "Yeah, the beach is close by so I go running in the mornings. It's nice you know, and the weather is awesome!"

"You look so tanned!" Abby skipped closer to the screen. "And your hair is 's your team like, not as awesome as us I bet?"

Tony laughed but didn't acknowledge the statement, he wasn't about to put his guys down, even in jest.

"They're both excellent agents," he said instead. "Rob's almost as green as you were when you started McGee, but he's a quick learner and Sach is an absolute _demon_. She's tinier than my little finger but I've seen her tackle down suspects five times her size. She's got a way with families too, one of those people you instantly love and who should know better than to try and sneak up on her boss."

Tony turned as he spoke and lifted enquiring eyebrows at his agent who had the grace to blush.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Sir," she said. "But Captain Tynes is here to see you."

"He wouldn't say what about?" Tony asked.

"No Sir," Sachs shook her head, blonde curls bouncing as she did so. "He did insist that it's important."

"I'm sure _he_ thinks so," Tony drawled and Sachs outright laughed. "Tell him I'll be right out."

"Will do, Sir," She saluted as she left the room and Tony turned back to his friends with a put upon sigh.

"Duty calls, guys. I guess we'll have to cut this short," he said. "We should totally Skype sometime though."

"Definitely!" the Washington crowd echoed and then laughed as they said their goodbyes and cut the call leaving Tony feeling lighter than he had in days and the smile was still on his face as he went out to meet Tynes.

"What can I do for you Captain?" he asks, his smile slipping into something that was not as easily read and eyes sharp as they landed on the man standing in front of his desk.

"Agent DiNozzo," the Tyne greeted, his eyes roaming over the figure Tony cut in his tailored slacks and lightweight dress shirt. "Thank you for seeing me."

"The pleasure is mine, Captain," Tony's smile turned a little more genuine at the courtesy. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee? We bought the machine and beans ourselves so it's better than the usual break-room sludge."

"No, thank you," Tyne shook his head. "I won't take much of your time. It's just...my unit was at the shooting range earlier, when you were there?"

He phrased the statement like a question and Tony nodded his confirmation of the fact.

"Well, there's this thing we got going...just guys from round the base y'know? Every Saturday afternoon we all get together at the shooting range and have a sort of tournament. No money or anything, just a last one standing where the losers all spring for pizza and beer. We, uh," The Captain shifted a little,

"Well, we couldn't help but notice that you've got some aim," he smiled at Tony who echoed the motion and inclined his head in thanks. "It'll be great if you..all of you I mean, could join us. It'll be nice to have a bit of competition."

"Just guys from the base?" Tony asked.

"Yes sir, sometimes Commander McGarrett of Five-O joins us as well."

"Does he now," Tony glanced at Sach and Rob in question and they both nodded their approval.

"Okay, Captain," Tony grinned, "I guess we'll see you tomorrow?"

"Great!" Tyne grinned. "Oh, and call me Sam."

"Tony," DiNozzo held out his hand for Sam Tyne to shake. "And this is Sach and Rob."

"Y'all get ready to get yer asses kicked," Sach laughed as Tyne shook her hand.

"We'll see," Tyne laughed, "does junior over here even know how to hold a gun."

"Hey!" Rob protested the nickname. "You haole's better be able to put your money where your mouth is."

"No problem, kiddo," Tyne said and winked at Tony and throwing a wave over his shoulder as he left.

"First five-0 and now the sailors?" Sachs said once the door had closed behind Tyne. "Ya sure do know how to make friends, Boss."

"What can I say?" Tony turned the full pwer of his grin on her, "it's my charming personality."

"Sure Boss," Rob rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the desk he'd been leaning against. "You keep telling yourself that."

"What did I do to deserve such insubordination," Tony rolled his eyes and looked to the ceiling in mock despair. "Back to work, both of you or no hanging with the sailors this weekend."

"Yes Mum," Sach and Rob said in perfect unison with identical expressions of innocence and, for a moment, all Tony could do was blink in surprise before bursting into laughter. One thing was certain, life in Hawaii sure as hell wasn't dull.

~O

Hula-Hula was bustling by the time Tony and his team arrived but, even with the crowd, Steve's table was easily spotted. Mostly because the blond guy that had been complaining about the pizza that first night was again complaining about the pizza.

"Hey, Tony!" Steve stood and clapped Tony on the shoulder, his hand lingering there instead of dropping. "You made it!"

"Steve," Tony greeted before smiling at the table. In addition to the blond there was a native looking couple who were both tall, both tone and both too beautiful for words.

"This is Sach and Rob," Tony continued. "Guys, Steve McGarrett."

"Nice to meet you," Steve replied and shook hands with Tony's team but made no other move.

"Since my friend here is a freak of nature and therefore does not follow basic human customs like introductions, please allow me to do so," the blond said as he elbowed Steve aside. "I'm Danny and with me is Kono and Chin. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Tony smiled.

"So how are you finding Hawaii?" Kono asked as the NCIS team took their seats. "Better than DC?"

"Weather wise, definitely!" Tony grinned. "It's great to see so much sun!"

"Well get used to it," Chin added. "it's always hot in Oahu."

"I've only ever left this island a handful of times to visit my Pa's folks over in England but I hated those vacations," Rob admitted and shivered with the memory. "The cold freaks me out, brah."

"Lightweight," Tony and Danny snorted in almost perfect unison before grinning at each other and bumping fists.

"Oh God, not two of them," Steve groaned and dropped his head into his hands although a smile was very obviously tugging at his lips.

"Hey," Tony protested but it was only half-hearted, "you invited me!"

"That I did," Steve agreed, "so make yourself useful, DiNozzo and come help me with the drinks."

"Whatever you say, Commander," Tony grinned and rose easily from his seat to follow Steve to the bar.

"So, I met a friend of yours today," Tony continued, leaning against the bar counter as they waited for their order.

"Really?" Steve echoed the position and a slight hint of wariness crossed his face. "An actual friend, I hope."

"Relax sailor," Tony laughed. "I was referring to Sam Tyne. Naval Captain? Ring any bells? He invited us over to the shoot-out they're having tomorrow."

"Is that so," Steve's gaze turned speculative then darkened with something Tony was all too familiar with. "You gonna show us what you got DiNozzo?"

For a fraction of a moment Tony hesitated before gathering his resolve. Maybe this was exactly what he needed, maybe Steve was what he needed. So he slid closer, reaching for the bottle the bartender had placed next to Steve. The movement brought him right into Steve's personal space. From this close the inch of difference in their heights was more obvious and Tony stared steadily down into blue, blue eyes.

"I will if you will, Commander," he said, glad that his voice stayed level and he let it drop over the title.

Steve's eyes turned hooded but he made no move to put space between them and instead smiled up at Tony, bringing his bottle to his mouth and letting his lips curl almost obscenely around the tip as he took a deep drink, his cheeks hollowing and the muscles in his throat working. Tony almost gulped.

"I look forward to it, Tony," Steve said before grabbing a couple of the drinks and sliding past Tony, letting their chests brush as he did so.

Tony took closed his eyes, took a deep breath and smiled before following with the rest of the drinks. Oh yes. This is exactly what he needed.

Four days later, Tony bought an apartment. It was close to the beach, in a gated complex with security, and it had a balcony with a view of the ocean. It took didn't take him long to get to work in the mornings, or home in the evenings because boths times he was travelling against traffic and, in all, Tony was pretty darn happy with his choice. The moving company transferred all his things from holding, to his new place and all Tony had to do was stand around and issue directions. He spent the next couple of evenings unpacking everything and, once that was done, just stood and stared for a good ten minutes. It had taken him a couple of months to properly settle into his place in DC but, somehow, this sunny little apartment with it's ocean view and the bustle of the city below already felt...familiar. Like he belonged.

Before Tony knew it, his fingers were moving over the buttons of his iPhone (courtesy of NCIS) and he was inviting Steve and his team over for a housewarming party that weekend. And after that there was nothing for it except to extend the invite to his own team and Sam Tyne (who had very quickly learnt why exactly it was unwise to issue Sach any sort of challenge). It wasn't something he had planned on but once the invites had been issued (and quickly accepted) Tony found that he was really looking forward to Saturday.

Five-0 and Tyne didn't let the fact that Tony had only met them a week ago stop them from making themselves at home in his place. Almost as soon as she arrived, Kono was taking over the DJ responsibilities because 'I'm sorry, brah, but you just can't rock to Sinatra.' Once Chin had spotted the sports car parked in Tony's spot he had been quick to engage Tony in a discussion about where and what to buy, and the pro's and con's of motorbikes versus cars. When Sach and Rob arrive they showed just how well they knew their boss because both their arms are piled high with a handful of pizza boxes each, at least half of which are cheese only.

"You," Danny said to Tony as he snagged a slice, "are a _saint_! Seriously, do you know how hard it is to find proper pizza around here? Very hard. Trust me, I've tried. Also, can I just say that you your boss is a very smart man to put you in charge over here because any guy that can train his guys to bring pizza without _actually training_ them to bring pizza deserves to be in charge of the whole fucking world."

Steve rolled his eyes and Tony watched with barely concealed amusement as Danny took a large bite from his pie and his features immediately slid into rapture, slightly obscene sounds of enjoyment escaping his mouth.

"Steve seriously," Danny said and at least he had the presence of mind to swallow first. "You'v egot to hire this guy. Tony, you are officially my new best friend. Please come work with us and bring your pizza-bearing rookie's with you."

"Yo, DiNozzo," Steve said and bumped his shoulder lightly against Tony's, "Stop corrupting my team."

"Then stop denying them proper nourishment," Tony rolled his eyes, but bumped shoulders with Steve in retaliation.

"You call this nourishment?" Steve said, holding up a slice of pizza that was glistening with cheese. "Look at this, it's oil and fat. I can't even begin to imagine the state of your arteries,"

"Sure, it's unhealthy," Tony shrugged with a very obvious lack of concern. "But it also tastes really, really good."

Then, with a wicked gleam in his eyes, Tony bent forward and tilted his head to grab a bit from the slice of pizza Steve was still holding. He chewed, swallowed and then licked his lips, all the while his gaze never leaving Steve's own. Neither man was oblivious to the slightly shocked stares they were garnering either.

"See?" Tony said, "delicious."

Smirking at Steve he turned and continued his conversation with Chin as if he hadn't just eaten out of the man's hand in front of a room full of people. Danny's eyes travelled between Tony and Steve with an expression that immediately raised Steve's hackles and before Tony knew what was happening the two were bickering like a married couple.

Chin and Kono merely cast them resigned glances so Tony ignored them as well and focused on the rest of his guests, more specifically on Sam when he expressed an interest in Tony's movie collection.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Rob muttered under his breath, softly enough that Tony couldn't hear. "Here we go again." Sach laughed at him and Kono and Chin looked over, their dark eyes gleaming with interest.

"Your boss is a movie buff?" Kono asked and Rob and Sach nodded in unison.

"That doesn't even begin to cover it," Sach admitted. "Tony can quote a movie to cover any situation. And I do mean _any_ situation."

"Interesting," Kono said and the look that entered her eyes put Chin instantly on guard.

"Cuz..." he warned but Kono paid him no heed.

"Tell me more," she said instead, turning to face the NCIS agents more fully.

It was much later that night, after Sam and Danny had both begged off early because they were taking their kids out for the weekend, and after Sach and Kono had skipped out of the apartment arm in arm with Rob and Chin trailing behind them that Steve lingered a little in the doorway.

"Need some help tidying up?" Steve offered, playing with his car keys.

"Sure," Tony shrugged and smiled when Steve beamed.

Together they made quick work of gathering the bottles together, throwing out the snack wrappers and putting any leftover pizza in the fridge. Steve wrinkled his nose at that but Tony merely shrugged even reheated pizza was good enough for him and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. Then Steve wiped down the kitchen counters and the tv room table while Tony swept and, before they knew it, Tony's apartment was almost as clean as when he'd viewed it.

"So, it was a great night," Steve said as he fussed with his keys once more, not meeting Tony's gaze.

Tony merely rolled his eyes and came to stand in front of the other man, close enough that Steve looked up, startled.

"You know for a Navy SEAL, you're kind of a coward," Tony noted.

Steve's brow furrowed in a mixture of confusion and the beginnings of anger but before he could speak, Tony lifted his hand and curled his fingers around Steve's neck.

"Just take the plunge, McGarrett," he said, stepping even closer.

Steve didn't need to be told twice and he immediately met Tony half way, their lips sliding easily together and bodies pressing instinctively closer. The last time Tony had been with a guy this way was...God, it was years ago and he'd forgotten how good it could feel to press against solid, unyielding muscle instead of the soft curves of a woman.

And Steve's muscles were most definitely solid and unyielding. A shudder of appreciation ran through Tony as his hands slipped under the thin cotton of Steve's shirt, flattening against warm, smooth skin that was pulled taut over hard abs. His shudder turned into a moan as Steve's lips left his to travel down his neck, teeth scraping against Tony's jugular. Large hands bracketed Tony's hips, pulling him closer before one shaped the curve of his ass while the other slid up Tony's back, holding him in place as Steve nosed at the material of Tony's shirt to expose his collarbones. Well, two could play at that game.

Tightening his grip on Steve, Tony took a few steps backwards,pulling Steve with him until Tony's back hit the wall. Then, using the concrete against his back and the 6 foot something of Navy SEAL pressed against his front as leverage, Tony wrapped one leg high around Steve's hip and the other one a little lower to keep Steve in place and then he _moved_. Steve broke away from Tony's neck with a groan as Tony's hips rocked, undulating against Steve in slow, deliberate movements that rubbed their groins together with unerring accuracy.

He braced his hands against the wall, pressed his chest against Tony's and bent to capture the older man's lips in a kiss that was wet and messy and flithy as his own hips moved, matching Tony pace for pace. Tony gasped for air as they broke the kiss, his cheeks flushed and eyes glazed as they met Steve's. The SEAL was equally affected and could do little more than moan Tony's name as their hips moved faster, harder.

With urgency fuelling his movements, Tony tugged at Steve's shirt, cursing the fact that it had no buttons as Steve had to break away for a moment to tug it over his head. Tony experienced no such problems and it was a matter of seconds before his own shirt was hanging open and they were moving together once more, delighting in the first feel of skin to skin contact. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough.

Even as Tony lowered his head to bite at the corded strength in Steve's shoulders, his fingers were busy, undoing the buttons and zips of their pants and pushing aside underwear to expose their cocks. His hands slid around Steve's back and beneath the waistline of his cargo's grabbing palmfuls of his ass and biting down on his lip to contain a curse as their dicks finally, _finally, _slid together.

"Fuck, Tony," Steve cursed, moving more urgently as pre-cum coated their dicks making the slide easier, slicker, hotter. "Jesus."

Tony was experiencing a similar overload of sensation and his lips sought out the skin behind Steve's ear, pressing sloppy and moist kisses there to stop the litany of words that crowded his mouth from spilling out. Instead he let his hands wander, let his fingers trace over the line of Steve's hipbones,the pattern of his abs before skimming up his chest to circle his nipples. The reaction was immediate. Steve's back arched, his head falling back and a low, rumbling groan escaped him as he tried to push into Tony's touch.

"Sensitive, huh?" Tony noted with a grin and rubbed his palms roughly over Steve's nipples.

Steve's head snapped back down, heavily lidded blue eyes with their pupils blow wide capturing Tony's gaze and it wasn't unexpected when Steve decided that _no way_ was Tony going to have all the fun. He wrapped his hand around their dicks, callouses rubbing against the pulsing, wet flesh and muscle. Tony drew in a sharp, hissing breath, all humour leaving him and he buried his face in Steve's neck, panting against the SEALs skin as his hips worked with Steve's hands and his fingers continued their torture of Steve's nipples.

It didn't take long from there. The feeling of rough palms and a throbbing dick against his own, combined with the biting kisses Steve was peppering along Tony's neck and shoulder, and the way his other hand was fondling Tony's balls quickly brought Tony over the edge and he cried out, low and rough, as he spilled over Steve's palm, thick ropey spurts of cum landing on their chests and dicks, making the slick slide of Steve's hand even slicker and dirtier.

Tony's chest heaved, his head falling heavily onto Steve's shoulder and still Steve jerked them off, his hips and hands working urgently towards his own release. So Tony tightened his grip on Steve's ass, pulling him impossibly closer as he turned to whisper in Steve's ear.

"The next time we do this," Tony's voice sounded as wrecked as he felt. "You're going to fuck me. You're going to fuck me, hard and long and you're going to make me beg, Commander, until the only thing I can remember is your name and the only thing I can feel is your dick splitting me in two."

Whether it was the images that litte spiel conjured or the way his military title was spoken in that gruff, thoroughly fucked voice that did the trick, but Steve followed Tony over the edge, biting into Tony's shoulder to muffle his cry of release and his cum painting patterns over the ones Tony's had already made. They stood like that for a long moment, slumped against each other with heaving chests and thumping hearts as they slowly came down from the orgasmic high. Tony turned his head, capturing Steve's mouth in soft, slow kiss before reluctantly pushing him away.

"Come on," Tony said, "Let's get cleaned up and then you can tell me how on earth you earned the name 'smooth dog' when your pick up lines suck."

Steve glanced up, the beginnings of indignation clouding his features before he caught Tony's gaze and realised that he was joking. Then Steve's features smoothed into a goofy, lopsided smile and he slid his hands over Tony's waist to settle on his hips before pulling him closer once again.

"Why get cleaned up when we're just gonna get dirty all over again?" He asked and had slanted his mouth over Tony's before Tony could reply. It was much, much later that Tony could admit to himself that, okay, maybe Steve's pick up lines didn't suck so much after all.

~O

Two months after Tony moved to Hawaii they catch a big case. It's a Saturday morning, sunny and bright like only Hawaii can be and he's in Steve's bed, a stong arm and long leg pinning him against his lover when his phone vibrates and instinct rouses him before the ringtone can start up and wake Steve. It's Pearl Harbour dispatch and it's a homicide. Tony's still on the call when Steve's phone rings and their eyes meet. It looked as if they were going to be working their first joint case.

"Lieutenant Greg Kinnear," Chin announced as he led them to the scene of the crime. "He's divorced, wife and kid live in Atlanta, and he was between assignments. The body was found when the housekeeper came to do her routine and found him like this."

"Been here a while," Tony noted, taking in the begginings of decomposition and wrinkling his nose against the smell that filled the house.

"Marita, the housekeeper, only comes once a week," Chin explained. "The Lieutenant was alive and six days ago so the murder could have happened anytime during that period."

"Your guys wanna process the scene?" Steve suggested, lifting his eyebrows at Tony. "We'll get Max to do the autopsy."

"Sounds good to me," Tony nodded. "Rob photographs and sketches. Sach, bag and tag and I'll dust for prints."

"Yes boss," Sach and Rob echoed before doing as they were told.

"Any idea why the Governor is so invested in this?" Tony asked when Steve shuffled from one foot to another instead of doing interviews.

"Kinnear's a friend of hers," Steve said and his smile was a little apologetic. "She likes to call in Five-O when friends of hers are...you know."

"Hey, no complaints here," Tony replied. "We'll be glad for the help."

"Well what d'ya know?" Danny smirked as he sauntered up to them. "A Fed that knows how to play well with others? There's something you don't see every day. Aren't you guys, like, brainwashed into an inbred, agency only sort of mentality?"

"I skipped that class," Tony snarked back and Danny and Steve laughed.

"Okay then, we'll leave you to it. C'mon Danno, we gotta talk to Marita. Kono! Help NCIS with processing."

"On it Boss," Kono grinned, far too cheerful for such a brutal interruption to their weekend.

"What do you need, Tony?"

"Bag and tag the floor," Tony smiled and passed her a pair of gloves. "I'll comb our vic"

Greg Kinnear was tall and athletic with a strong jaw line and full lips. He was dressed in lightweight chinos and a polo shirt. His fingernails were clean, his hair was parted neatly to the right and all his toes were cut off. Also his neatly pressed shirt was ruined by blood blooming from two GSWs, one to the heart and another about an inch lower. Tony supressed both a grimace and a sigh (it was a really bad idea to breathe too deeply right now) and snapped on a pair of gloves. It was time to get to work.

Hours later both teams were gathered at Five-0 HQ, standing around the table/computer/presentation screens and sporting identical frowns of consternation. There had been very little left at the scene that was of use. The bullet wounds were through and throughs but no bullets nor their casings were left at the scene. Fibers from the room had been identified as clothing or upholstery, all generic and mass-produced. The hairs and fingerprints they recovered belonged to either Kinnear or his housekeeper. There were no footprints, no residues, _no evidence_ of any kind to show that someone had been in the house other than the very violent death of the lieutenant.

"Okay, so is anyone else just a little bit impressed right now?" Danny said and raised his hands to silence any protests when six disbelieving glances were levelled this way.

"No, no, think about it." He insisted and began ticking points off on his fingers. "First our perp manages to get himself invited into the house becuase the alarm wasn't tripped and all the windows and locks are intact. Then he shoots Kinnear twice in the chest, _hacks off_ all his toes, and leaves. All without alerting the neighbours or leaving any trace of himself behind. The guy is impressive...in a completely psychotic and unhinged way because, toes? Really?"

"I hear ya, brah," Kono sighed and brushed away bangs from her face.

"Have we heard back from autopsy about the toes? What they were cut off with?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," it was Steve who spoke. "The instrument was sharp, a blade of some kind. Our guy isn't squeamish because there are no signs of hesitation in his strokes _but_ the pattern the blade left behind is a little distinctive. Max is doing a comparison of a few different tools to try and get a match as we speak."

"Okay," Tony nodded and glanced at his watch before swearing. "I've a video conference scheduled with the Director in ten minutes," he explained, "it's gonna take me twice that to get back to the Base."

"Call from here," Chin suggested. "Just get your tech guys on the phone and I'll set up a remote connection."

"You," Tony grinned as he pulled out his phone, "are a lifesaver. Seriously, Vance would be so pissed if I was late for this call."

"I dunno, Boss," Rob shrugged. "I got the impression that he kinda likes you."

"I'm sure he'd plead temporary insanity," Tony shrugged and murmured the reply under his breath so that nobody would hear.

Steve, however, had been standing right next to him and had those freaky SEAL trained senses and shot Tony an enquiring look to which Tony merely smiled in repsonse. He wasn't about to explain that, regarding Vance's recent goodwill, Tony was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Not when they had witnesses at least. A few minutes later, one of the many screens had been linked to MTAC at the base and Vance was staring down at the assembled group. He'd already been told that this would be a joint investigation but obviously hadn't expected to be greeted by so many people.

"Director," Tony stepped forward, professionalism oozing from every line of his body as he gestured to where Steve was standing. "This is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett of Five-0 and his team, Detective Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua. We're currently at their headquarters."

"I'm sorry we have to meet under such circumstances, Sir," Steve said. His spine was straight, feet apart, hands clasped behind his back in a posture that practically screamed military.

"Me too, Commander," Vance nodded before returning his attention to Tony.

"What's your status on the case, Agent DiNozzo?"

"Analysis of the scene revealed that our perp is a professional, Sir," Tony reported. "The victim was Lieutenant Greg Kinnear, Special Warfare. TOD is between 10-11:30 am Tuesday morning becuase decomposition does not allow for a more accurate estimate. COD is two GSWs to the chest and there is some post-mortem mutilation. Sir," Tony took a deep breath, "our perp cut off Lieutenant Kinnear's toes."

There was silence for a long moment as Vance digested the news. Then the Director sighed, a frown pulling at his brow as he steepled his fingers together.

"I'm afraid," Vance said, "that this has just become a three-way Op."

"Sir?" Tony questioned, his spine stiffening in repsonse to Vance's tone. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what the Director had to say.

"MCRT caught a case three days ago with the same MO," Vance admitted and Tony bit his lip to stifle the curse that threatened to spill. This could only mean one thing.

"Brief everyone on your side, DiNozzo," Vance said, "they'll be on the next flight over."

For a moment after Vance had cut the call, Tony simply stared at the blank screen, fighting to quell the emotion that knotted his stomach.

"Tony?" Steve prompted. "What do we need to be briefed on?"

"The MCRT is my old team, from DC," Tony explained. "I spent ten years working under Gibbs, the team lead, nine of them as his SFA and to say that he's...motivated, is an understatement."

"So, what? What does that mean?" Danny spoke, waving one hand in the air as he did so. "Is the guy like super focused? By the book? A workaholic? What do you mean by motivated?"

"He's a former Marine," Tony explained, "With a very stringent policy regarding inter-agency co-operation."

"Stringent?" Steve raised both eyebrows in question.

"In a word?" Tony grimaced, "Don't."

"Don't co-operate?" Kono piped in, "What, as in ever?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tony shrugged and eased his features into a smile. "But his team is good, very good in fact. McGee and you will have a field day, Chin, with all your'll techno-babble and geek-speak. And Ziva," here Tony turned to Steve, a slow smile curving his lips, "Ziva's father is Eli David."

"You're shitting me," Steve straightened from where he was leaning against the table. "Of Mossad?"

"The one and only," Tony grinned. "They're not exactly on speaking terms but I think the two of you will find you have a lot in common."

"Mossad, Eli David?" Danny's gaze travelled between Steve and Tony, "What do you two have some sort of secret, couples, lovey-dovey code or something going on? Huh? You wanna share with the rest of the class, and in English please? I don't speak whipped."

Steve glared at Danny but Tony merely rolled his eyes. Getting angry required effort and he was going to need all his energy for when Gibbs arrived but he did answer Danny's question.

"Mossad is Israel's intelligence agency," Tony explained, "and Eli David is its Director. Ziva's been trained in espionage since almost before she can walk and I've seen her take down guys bigger than Steve without breaking a sweat. She's like this super-spy/ninja-chick extraodinaire."

"So, like a female Steve?" Danny replied. "Which would be great, except we already have one Steve and I don't think this island would survive another one. Even if she is shorter and cuter."

"Well, definitely shorter but as for..." Tony slanted a glance at Steve from the corners of his eyes as he spoke but Danny interrputed him.

"Okay, stop right there," the Jersey native put up a hand to emphasise his word. "Seriously, just stop. Don't finish that sentence because, fyi, I _do not_ need to hear all your sappy, romantic endearments okay? Keep the pillow talk for the bedroom."

"If that's your idea of pillow talk, then no wonder Rachel divorced you," Steve snorted and didn't give Danny a chance to reply before he was barking orders once more, dispersing the assembled teams in a flurry of activity and, before long, they were alone in the communications room and Tony shifted slightly. There were a plethora of things he could be doing but at the moment he brain was stuck on something that resembled _Gibbs_, closely followed by _shit._

"So," Steve said, the tone of his voice deliberately casual. "This Gibbs guy, he gonna be a problem?"

"For the case?" Tony let out a small laugh but it was devoid of humour. "Not the kind of thing I thought you'd be worried about, Steve. Or are you saying you'd let someone bully you on your own turf?"

"Not for the case," Steve stepped closer. "For you. Ten years is a long time and, you don't have to tell me anything if you're not ready for it but we've, I've got your six. You're not alone, Tony."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're far too mushy and sentimental for a SEAL," Tony scoffed but he threaded his fingers through Steve's hair and pulled him down for a kiss despite his words.

"You secretly love it," Steve smirked and stepped back before things could get heated. It had taken precious little time for Steve to realise that, when it came to Tony, things could get heated very, very quickly.

"Sure I do," Tony rolled his eyes, tone drier than the Sahara. "I'll see you later, Commander. Gotta get a few things done before Gibbs and his guys get here."

Steve waves him off, supressing the want that rises in him whenever Tony says 'Commander' in that suggestive way he has, and turns towards his office. They still have a murderer to catch.

~O

Steve McGarrett is a smart man. One Danny Williams might beg to differ, offering up the many and varied and highly unorthodox methods Steve employs during the course of an investigation as proof that he's trigger happy more than he is smart, but the truth remains that Steve McGarrett is a smart man.

The first time he'd noticed Tony DiNozzo, he'd been in Hula-Hula with the rest of his team, very deliberately ignoring one of Danny's rants. Tony had brushed past their table on the way to the bar, all long legs and broad shoulders and Steve had never, _never_, in his life experienced such a strong and immediate surge of lust-at-first-sight. So he'd stood and, under the pretence of getting more drinks, made his way to the bar in time to hear Tony's order.

Starting a conversation had...required a bit of work. Tony was good at controlling his expression but even he couldn't hide the flash of wariness in his eyes when Steve had approached him. Then he'd mentioned NCIS and Steve had mentioned Hanna and, just like that, the proverbial ice had broken. Tony was everything Steve had ever wanted in a partner, intellingent, funny and most definitely able to take care of himself.

The following months had been the happiest Steve had felt since...probably since his promotion to Lieutenant Commander and it had showed. Danny had noted that Steve was quicker to smile, less uptight about dead body jokes and the truth was, Steve had _felt_ lighter and more...carefree. It was strange because carefree was not an adjective that could be correctly applied to Steve since before his mother's death. And this was all _before_ Steve and Tony had become, well, Steve and Tony.

After they'd stopped dancing around each other and made things official it had been...let's just say that Steve had never realised that having a partner who was a constant and regular feature in your life could be so...rewarding. They split their nights between their respective homes but, more often than not, spent them together. The exceptions were when one or both of them was caught up in a case but even that was different.

The first time Tony had sauntered into Five-0 HQ, armed with four extra large coffee's and one black tea (even though Steve had never mentioned his preferance of beverage directly to Tony before) because Steve had had to cancel on their movie night, he'd been greeted by the combined and exuberant gratitude of Danny, Chin and Kono. Steve had blinked at him, confused, before the slightly hesitant quality to Tony's smile had glavanised him into action and he'd pressed a kiss to Tony's lips, ignoring Danny's spluttering, Kono's wolf-whistles and Chin's knowing gaze.

Whoever had made Tony think that doing something nice for your boyfriend might not be appreciated deserved to be shot. In the kneecaps. In _both_ kneecaps. And only because Tony wouldn't approve of outright murder. Hell he probably wouldn't agree with any of Steve's current train of thought but that was a problem for another day. It hadn't just been the drinks at work thing though.

In the beginning Steve had thought that Tony had been in a relationship with his boss and it had gone bad. It was little things, like the way Tony would start a sentence with 'my boss," the trail off as his eyes clouded over with memory. Then, when he'd realised he'd spaced out, Tony would clear his throat and continue the sentence with 'the guy I used to work for'". One time Danny had mentioned the Marine Corps and their Semper Fi motto and Tony had stiffened, his face going very carefully blank for a moment before he blinked, and then he blinked again and the full power of the DiNozzo grin came out. But Steve would never forget that look, the one that said if Steve had enlisted with the Marines instead of the Navy, he probably would never have stood a chance with Tony.

Then there's the fleeting glimpses of sorrow that pass over Tony's face whenever Sach or Rob call him 'boss'. Tony never asks them to stop and the looks come and go so quickly that nobody else notices them but Steve's a smart man and he spends a lot of time watching Tony. He notices them. He asks Tony about them one night. It's a Saturday and it's not that 're entwined together on Tony's bed, Tony with his head on Steve's chest, his long body curled around Steve to tangle their legs together.

"You know your old boss?" Steve says, cutting straight to the point. He does stroke the naked skin of Tony's shoulders and back in apology though, running his fingers soothingly over the muscles there.

"Yeah," Tony tensed up a little but didn't move from his position. "What about him?"

"Were you two," Steve paused, uncertain as to how exactly to phrase his question. "Did you ever..."

Fortunatey for Steve it seemed as if Tony picked up on his train of thought despite the stammering, unfinished questions.

"No," Tony's smile was small, but genuine as he lifted his head to meet Steve's gaze. "Nothing like that. He was just my boss," the smile grew twisted, "and a bastard of one at that."

Steve had hummed his understanding but the heavy stone that had settled in his stomach didn't lift because not once did Tony mention his old boss by name. So no, they might not have been lovers but there was history there, enough history to make Steve want to track down the bastard of a boss that had put that look in Tony's eyes and ask him how the fuck he could have been so damned stupid.

But he knows it's way too soon for that. Steve's protective instincts are, when it comes to Tony, surprisingly strong for having known Tony such relatively short amount of time. He wants, when Tony got the news that his old team was coming, Steve wanted to, well, he wanted to do anything that would put the smile back on Tony's face and, as corny as it sounded, the twinkle back into his eyes. Tony was like the Hawaiian sun, always there, always bright and Steve would do anything, _anything_ to keep it that way. If that meant digging up all the dirt he could on the elusive Gibbs, pulling up every dirty little secret so that Steve had the means to keep the guy out of Tony's life, well, then that was exactly what Steve would do.

Glancing at his watch, Steve felt his lips curv into a smile. They had a bit over two hours before they had to meet Tony and the DC team back at Pearl Harbour. That was more than enough time.

"Chin," Steve beckoned the older man over. "There's something I want you to do."

~O

Tony was nervous. Scratch that, he was very, very nervous. Fidgeting, however, was out of the question because Gibbs could read Tony well enough as it was. He didn't need Tony to help by broadcasting his state of mind to the world. So instead he stuffed his hands in his pocket, leaning against the wall in a way that could only ever be construed as casual and waited, scanning the passers by as he did so.

In front of him the baggage carousel turned. There was a family waiting off to one side, the woman scanning each bag as it passed whilst making sure the two kids didn't wander too far from her sight and the man standing apart from them, phone pressed to his ear attention obviously back at wherever it was they flew in from. Tony took one glance at his slacks and collared shirt, the sleeves rolled up and top two buttons popped open in deference to the heat, and pegged him as a workaholic. The laptop bag slung over his shoulder went a long way towards aiding that prognosis.

A bit further down from the family stood two women, in their early to mid twenties, with the straps of their bikini tops peeking out from under their t-shirts and shorts and flip-flops telling Tony that they were already in full holiday mode. On the opposite end was a couple, arms slung easily around each other and laughter lighting both their eyes. Wedding rings glinted between their entwined hands and they were both young so it wouldn't be surprising if they were newly-weds. Before Tony could read further into their body language to try and determine more about them, however, his view was filled with black hair and heavily line green eyes.

"Abby!" The smile that lit Tony's face was genuine as was his surprise and he instantly opened his arms for a hug. "I wasn't expecting you!"

"It was a surprise," Abby beamed and drew back after a long moment, "I convinced Vance that my talents were required."

"And he agreed?" Tony's eyebrows rose into his hairline.

"It took a lot of convincing," Abby conceded, threading her arm through his and beaming up at Tony. He sent a fond smile back at her before letting his gaze drift to the rest of the group.

"Tony," Ziva smiled as she leaned in and pressed a kiss to Tony's cheek. "It is good to see you."

"You too, Zee-va," Tony drawled out her name the way he used to and was rewarded by the way Ziva's smile grew a little.

"Tony," McGee stepped up, looking awkward for a moment before extending a hand for Tony to shake. Tony did so, disengaging from Abby so he could pull McGee into a one armed hug.

"McGee," Tony's smile didn't dim in the slightest. "You're looking good. Did you lose weight?"

"A bit," McGee shrugged, his smile turning a little bashful and Tony almost blinked.

In the years before Tony had transferred out to Pearl Harbour, Tim had been growing steadily more confident, slowly and steadily becoming more comfortable in his own skin. The man standing in front of Tony was a little awkward, a little shy and, if the tightness in McGee's shoulder was anything to go by, too accostomed to having someone watch and criticize his every move. Tony had a good idea whom that someone might be. As if on cue, Gibbs appeared behind McGee, jaw clenched and eyebrows pulled into a frown.

"You all gonna waste my time standing here?" Gibbs demanded without so much as a hello. "We got work to do!"

Ziva and McGee immediately snapped to attention and even Abby's shoulder's dropped a little. Tony's first instict was to bark out a 'yes boss! On your six, boss!' but he immediately squashed it down and steadily met Gibbs' glare.

"Welcome to Hawaii, Agent Gibbs," he said instead, refusing to be cowed by the older man's temper and his tone was cordial even if his face was blatantly unimpressed.

"If you'll follow me," and with that Tony turned on his heel and strode towards the exit, missing the looks Ziva, McGee and Abby traded and the scowl Gibbs directed at his back.

Moments later they had piled into Tony's car, Gibbs in the passenger seat after Tony neatly evaded his swipe for the keys and the other three crammed into the backseat. Tony had almost asked that they move all the evidence from Five-O HQ back to the base since that would be where Gibbs would be expecting to work but he'd caught himself in time. Gibbs wasn't his boss anymore and it made sense to work out of Five-O. They had better facilities and they were more centrally located so it would be easier to get food if they were stuck working late.

"Uh, Tony," McGee spoke up after a while, his hesitance almost palpable, "why are we driving inland?"

That seemed to get everyone's attention as even Gibbs sent Tony a sharp look and it was all Tony could do not to flinch.

"I'm sure Vance told you that this is a joint case with Five-0," Tony explained. "We're working out of their HQ since they have better resources."

"You're letting someone else do your job for you, DiNozzo," Gibbs growled and Tony glanced at him from the corner of his eyes but didn't justify the statement with an answer. What the hell was he supposed to say to something like that anyway?

He didn't miss the way Abby shrunk a little further down into her seat and Ziva and Tim exchanged yet another glance. If Tony didn't know better he would've sworn they had magnets attached to the side of their heads but pointing that out would probably only prompt more of the same and things were awkward enough right now without Tony trying to fit into a skin he'd long ago outgrown. So he ignored the silent conversations taking place and concentrated on driving, all too aware of Gibbs' glare burning into him.

Unsurprisingly, the drive seemed longer than usual and Tony didn't even attempt to start a conversation. He could practically feel Gibbs waiting for the slightest opportunity to pounce. Instead Tony occupied himself with thoughts about how Five-0 would react to his old boss. Gibbs would undoubtedly try to bully his way through the investigation but he'd quickly find out why that was a bad idea. Even taking Steve and Danny out of the equation Chin and Kono were _scary. _They had this freaky esp/telepathy thing going and neither of them would appreciate anyone trying to manipulate or control them. The entire situation was a time bomb waiting to go off and Tony couldn't decide if he wanted to sit back and watch the fireworks take place, or find somewhere very, very remote and hide for the rest of eternity. It was on that thought that he pulled up to Five-0 HQ, smiling at the trio in the backseat through the rearview mirror before easily unfolding himself from the car and pushing the door closed.

"This entire building is for one team?" Ziva asked, her eyebrows rising as she surveyed the structure.

"Pretty much, yeah," Tony nodded then grinned at Ziva. "You should see their training facilities."

"Good?" Ziva asked as they climbed the stairs into the building.

"The best," Tony affirmed and pushed open the doors. From there it was a sort climb up another flight of steps to the office area.

The rest of the group were already there, reviewing the evidence. Chin and Kono had their backs to the door but turned as they heard it open, polite smiles curving their lips and sharp eyes travelling over Tony's old team. Sach and Rob were on the opposite end of the table. Their shoulders were stiff and tension tightened the corners of their mouths but they appeared otherwise unaffected. Danny stood near the screens, one had braced on the table the other in his pocket and Tony knew that his casual posture wasn't faked. Danny was no stranger to Feds trying to take over his crime scene and he wasn't the sort to be easily intimidated. In front of Danny, and slightly to he right, stood Steve. With his feet, shoulder width apart and arms crossed over his chest, the material of his shirt pulling taut across his biceps, Steve was broadcasting a very clear and very strong message and Tony almost smiled at his lovers typical, head-on approach. Instead of giving into the instict, Tony merely walked further into the room and began the introductions.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and his team, Detective Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua," Steve nodded in greeting, a motion that was echoed by the rest of Five-0 as Tony pointed them out in turn.

"And this is my team, Agents Cherish and Worthington."

Sach and Rob straightened as they were introduced but took their cues from Steve and also offered only a cool nod in greeting. Tony could have kissed them.

"Guys, these are Special Agents Gibbs, McGee and David and their forensic specialist, Abby Scuito," he said instead.

"It's so great to meet you all," Abby bounded forward, her mouth stretching into a grin despite the scowl that had taken up residence on Gibbs face. Then again, the rules always had been different for Abby. There was no reason to believe that had changed.

"You as well, Ms Scuito," it was Chin who replied, his smile was polite and the epitome of respectful.

"Everyone calls me Abby," her grin widened as she stepped further towards the group and eyes the interface of the computer/table they were gathered around. "And if you're the genius behind this beauty then you can call me anything you want."

That garnered the expected chuckles and Chin had opened this mouth to reply when he was interrupted.

"We don't have time to flirt, Abby," Gibbs scolded and crossed his arms over his chest as he frowned at her. "I need you to go over the evidence from Kinnear's case. See if they missed anything. Ziva, McGee do a comb over of Kinnear's house and do it properly. Tony, drive them over. I'll meet you there."

There was a moment of silence as Ziva, McGee and Abby moved to obey orders and Steve's jaw tightened but he merely raised his chin a little and glanced at Tony who shook his head in reply. Sach and Rob pursed their lips, looking between Tony and Gibbs but Tony paid them no mind. He knew them well enough by ow to know that they would follow his lead.

"Well DiNozzo," Gibbs growled. "You waiting for an engraved invitation?"

"Agent Gibbs," when Tony spoke his voice was level and he tucked his hands into his pockets to protray non-threatening body language. "I realise that old habits are hard to break but can I remind you that I no longer report to you? Your team may take the rental that's waiting for you out front and visit the crime scene if you so wish it but I combed through it myself. You won't find anything."

"You got something more important to do DiNozzo?" Gibbs snarled, getting right in Tony's face.

"Actually," it took all of Tony's willpower to appear unaffected, "I do. Perhaps when you're ready to treat this as the joint investigation it is you'll come find out what it is." He held Gibbs' stare for a moment to emphasise his point before deliberatly turning away whilst keeping his shoulders relaxed.

"Sach, Rob, with me," Tony ordered as he strode from the room.

"Yes, sir!" Sach and Rob responded in unison and immediately followed Tony, not sparing the DC agents a glance and the looks on the Washington team's faces had Kono turning away to hide her smile.

Steve regarded the newcomers for a moment, taking in Gibbs and Ziva's postures and gaze skimming over the way Abby was biting her lip and McGee was gazing between Gibbs and the door. Eventually he decided that he too would follow Tony's league.

"Agent Gibbs," when Steve spoke it was with what Danny called his Super SEAL voice. "Analysis is back on the instrument used to carve off Lieutenant Kinnear's toes. Do you want to see what we found or would you prefer to go back over routine procedures?"

Okay so maybe he wasn't _exactly _ following Tony's moral highground routine but Steve really couldn't resist getting a dig in. He'd met this Gibbs guy exactly three minutes ago and he already pissed Steve of more than Danny did on his absolute worst Hawaii-is-a-shithole day.

"Ain't nothing routine about double checking, Lieutenant," Gibbs said, dismissing Steve with a glance. "Gotta make sure no mistakes were made."

"Commander," Steve corrected.

"Whatever," Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"Okay," Steve moved from where he was standing strode right up to Gibbs, using his extra inch of height to loom over the older man. "Let's get one thing straight, I don't care who you are or who you think you are. You're on my island and if you want to be a part of my investigation then you better be damned sure you follow orders _Gunny_. There isn't a single person on Oahu that's gonna co-operate with a bunch of _haole's_. So you can run off and double check something that was done by a man _you chose_ to be _your SFA_ for nine years if you want. Me? I'm gonna catch the son of a bitch that's dared to target the Navy."

And with that Steve strode from the room, Danny automatically falling into step behind him. He hoped that appealing to the marine in Gibbs would work but, if he were honest, Steve didn't particuarly care if it didn't. At this point, he was jonesing for the slightest opportunity to kick that old bastard's ass straight off of his island and it had nothing to do with Gibbs' high-handed attitude and everything to with the way the laughter lines had completely disappeared from Tony's face in the couple of hours it had taken him to pick Gibbs and his team up from the airport.

"So, what was that about?" Danny asked as Steve backed the Camaro out of parking.

"What was what about?" Steve feigned ignorance, lifting his brows in question, because there was _no way_ he was actually explaining himself to Danny. Not if he wanted to keep his eardrums intact.

"Oh you don't know?" Danny's voice took on the inflection that suggested he was amused despite himself but couldn't, in good concience, let Steve get away with whatever he did to offend Danny's it's-called-due-process morality. "We're actually doing this? You really going to play innocent which, by the way, really doesn't suit you?"

"Danny," Steve didn't take the bait and let his frustration bleed into his voice. "Just say what you have to say so we can back to actually doing our jobs."

Danny gaped at Steve for a moment, outrage clear on his face and Steve's shoulders stiffen. He's scertain Danny is about to launch into one of his more epic tirades and he prepares himself to be inundated with rhetorical questions intersped between insults to his home it's weather and the food before something in Danny's face softens and he sighs.

"Look, I get it alright?" Danny says. "That Gibbs guy is an asshole and you have some army/navy rivalry going or whatever but you _cannot_ bring personal issues to work with you okay? And you cannot isolate a visiting team simply because they were rude to your boyfriend."

"This is not about Tony," it's Steve's turn to be outraged and he let's his anger cover his lie. "Gibbs is marine through and through," he explained. "The only way to get him to realise we're not going to back of our own damned case is to play to that mentality."

"So what? You pulled rank to stop a fight over jurisdiction?" Danny was blatantly disbelieving.

"Oh there's still gonna be fights over jurisdiction," Steve grinned, sharp and quick. "and I'll continue to pull rank until that bastard realises we're not gonna be so easily intimidated."

Danny thought about that for a second before nodding,

"Okay, fair enough."

Steve smiled at him then, glad that they were on the same wavelengh on this before pressing his foot harder against the gas pedal. They had a killer to catch.

~O

Tony had a headache. Scratch that, he had a _very bad_ headache. The kind of headache that felt every inch of every cliché about nails and skulls that, in his current state of agony, Tony couldn't summon up the energy to full verbalise. Even in thought form.

His old team had been on the island a grand total of 39 hours and it felt closer to 39 days. Analysis of the cut marks on Kinnear's toeas had produced a highly unusual pattern that had given Abby and Sach endless hours of fun trying to match. Eventually they'd narrowed the search down to a type of hunting knife but not one with an edge that was mass produced. Steve had taken the pattern they'd reverse engineered to an old friend of his father's that was somewhat of an expert on the subject and from there they gotten the make of a knife maker in Colorado.

A call to him had revealed that his clientele consisted mostly of wealthy businessmen who wanted to show off to their buddies, hardcore collectors and a few avid campers and game hunters that were prepared to shell out for quality equipment. All of the guys knives were hand made and usually tailored to the customer specifications and what they were most often going to use it for. Fortunately this meant that the edges of the knives he crafted were all slightly different. Unfortunately the differences were sometimes slight enough that it was going to take a couple of hours to get a name.

So that brought Tony to where he was now, slumped into a chair in Steve's office and massaging his temples in a vain attempt to push back the bulldozer attempting to bash in his head. For the entirety of the 39 hours Gibbs had been a snarling, growling bastard of the likes that made the man Tony spent ten years working for look like Winnie the fucking Pooh. On top of that Gibbs was his typical self and insisted on pushing at Five-0s boundaries and that had gone down as well as can be expected. Thankfully Abby, Ziva and McGee had been pretty excited to meet all of Tony's friends and, barring Gibbs, Five-0 and the DC agents got along like a house on fire. The same could be said for Tony's team and Kono, Ziva and Sachs could often be seen talking, their heads bent close together.

Also, Gibbs had once made the mistake of calling Sach's 'Cherish' even after he'd been warned not too and, since then, his coffee kept disappearing the moment he put it down. After the fifth time it had happened, Tony had caught Sachs turning away to hide her smug smile and winked at her, earning a beaming grin in response. Nobody, not even Abby, knew what had crawled into Gibbs ass and taken up residence their but Tony knew that if things carried on the way they were then Steve didn't have a thing to worry about because Tony himself would punch Gibbs from here all the way back to Washington.

It was at that moment that large, weather roughened hands settled on his shoulders, pressing into the tense muscle there and Tony let his head fall back with a groan that turned into a sigh when the back of his head fell against the particular mix of soft and firm that Tony had come to learn was Steve's stomach.

"God, that feels good," Tony smiled, tilting his head back to meet Steve's gaze.

"You're too tense," Steve scolded. "It's not good for you body to be so knotted up."

"Really?" Tony raised his eyebrows, one corner of his mouth tilting up in a smile that was more than a little suggestive. "So what would you suggest, Commander?"

In reply, Steve merely bent forward sliding his lips over Tony's and cupping his head to support his neck. The kiss was shallow and slow but it did it's job and Tony felt the tension slowly ease from his body. Before long Steve moved to straddle Tony, it was a tight fit but somehow Steve folded his body into position, knees up by Tony's hips and ass resting on Tony's knees as he slid his hands over Tony's shoulders and back, lowering his head into a kiss that was signficantly deeper than before. Tony's hands moved to cup Steve's ass, kneading the flesh there and it was a long time before they broke apart, lips swollen and breathing hard.

"As promising as this position is," Tony slipped his hands under Steve's shirt to rub his fingertips over his lover's nipples, coaxing out a lithe arch or Steve's back, "Now really isn't a great time."

"My door has a lock," Steve protested against the skin of Tony's neck. "And I can pull down the blinds for the windows."

"Because that won't be at all suspicious," Tony rolled his eyes and gently pushed at Steve's shoulders, smiling when he obliged and climbed off of Tony's lap.

"How are you holding up?" Steve asked leaning against his desk instead and surveying Tony with sharp eyes.

"I'll be thankful when this is all over," Tony admitted. "I don't know what's wrong with Gibbs but, at this point, I just want him gone."

"How the hell did you put up with that guy for ten years?" Steve shook his head slightly, a hint of bewilderment widening his eyes. "He makes some of my old instructors look almost...docile."

"He wasn't always this bad," Tony sighed and scrubbed at his face. "I mean don't get me wrong. The guys nickname is 'second b for bastard' but he was...different. Then one day he just snapped and nobody new why. It got so bad that I handed in my resignation but Vance offered me a position here instead."

"You sound...fond of him," there's a note of confusion in Steve's voice and Tony looks up and smiles at him, weary and wistful.

"I was," he admitted. "I am." He paused, wondering if he should continue but Steve's brow was furrowed with concern and his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes, trained solely on Tony even though Tony knew that Steve must be vibrating out of his skin with frustration waiting for the call from the knife-smith.

"For a long time I'd thought of Gibbs as something like...kinda like an older brother, you know? The guy who would ride your ass to do better, who would make your life a living hell trying to push you to your potential but who was always there with a beer and steak on the tough nights. He was too much of a friend to be a father but I kinda thought that Gibbs was a little like a brother. For a while, I thought the feeling was mutual," Tony looked away, not wanting Steve to see the emotions that clouded his eyes and shrugged. "I learnt eventually that he wasn't."

There was a moment's silence before Tony risked glancing back at Steve and when he did it was to find his lover frowning, a fierce look on his face that was reserved solely for criminals.

"He's a fucking idiot," Steve says, sharply and deliberately, before leaning over to kiss Tony yet again.

The thing is, this isn't even unusual because even on a normal day, Steve and Tony spend a lot of time kissing. It's probably because Steve is so damned _good_ at it. Tony's out of his chair almost before he can realise it and Steve's hands are bracketing his waist, large and strong as they pull Tony closer. The lack of height difference means that neither one has to lean down and they can just kiss. Then Steve's hands are moving to frame Tony's face, holding him in place as Steve assumes control and kisses Tony like it's the only thing he could ever imagine himself doing.

It's a knock on the door that finally rouses them and Tony rests his forehead against Steve's shoulder, not moving even when it's Ziva's voice that answers Steve's command to come in. Steve's arms don't tighten, neither do they drop from Tony's waist and when Tony does look up Ziva and McGee have stepped into the office. Their gazes are curious but unsurprised when Tony meets them and he smiles, something in him relaxing when they echo the motion.

"We wanted to let you know that we have a name on our suspect," Ziva says and Tony feels Steve stiffen beside him

"Ben Grafton," Tim continued on where Ziva had left off. "He's thirty seven, from New York. His dad was in the Navy but got kicked out for a being drunk on the job in addition to a whole lot of other minor offences. So far, that's the only connection we can find between him and his victims."

"Well then," it was Steve who spoke, determination colouring his voice. "I guess we'll just have to find Grafton and get the rest from him ourselves."

"Chin is pulling up an address now," McGee told him and Steve nodded, squeezing Tony's shoulder and smiling at him before striding from the room to find out what Chin had found.

"So how long has that been going on?" Ziva asked, a teasing smile of her face as Steve's back disappeared from view.

"A while," Tony admitted. "He's kinda irresistable."

"Ew, too much information, Tony!" McGee protested, making a face at the unexpectedly mushy response.

"You seem happy," Ziva prompted and Tony's smile widened.

"I am," he assured her.

"Good," it was McGee who spoke. "That's great Tony."

"Thanks Tim," Tony says and leaves a that, unwilling to ruin the sentiment with a joke or smart-ass comment.

"So we were thinking," Ziva began as the trio moved back towards the central hub of the floor. "Abby, McGee and I have vacation time owing and Vance has agreed to let us take it together. We wanted to spend some time here, on Oahu, after the case is closed."

"Awesome," Tony grinned. "I hope you guys packed swimsuits!"

"Slacking off already, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said as he passed by them. "The case isn't closed yet."

They had reached the rest of the group by then and Gibbs' comment was overheard by the all. By now, though, they were all so inured to his perversity that everyone either ignored him or rolled their eyes before carrying on with what they were doing. Tony however merely met Gibbs' gaze head on.

"Yes Agent Gibbs," he replied, voice level. "Because I worked for _you_ for ten years and you're really known for your tolerance of slackers."

"Things change," Gibbs shrugged although the venow in his voice seemed slightly more forced than usual. "There's a reason you got kicked off the team."

Tony outright laughed at that,

"Dude if your memory's that bad then maybe you should consider retirement."

In his peripheral vision, Tony could see Ziva and McGee stiffen, their eyes widening as they turned his way and Tony couldn't blame them. It was the sort of statement akin to suicide or at least, if Tony were still on Gibbs' team or still gave a fuck what the bipolar bastard thought of him then it would have been. As it was, Tony was sick and tired of taking the moral high ground, especially when no-one, _no-one, _could explain Gibbs' about turn in attitude. So while Gibbs stared at him, rage and something else that Tony wasn't willing to spend the time to identify lurking in his eyes, Tony turned away and joined in the discussion about the best way to take down Grafton.

Predictably, they decided on hard and fast and a few hours later all three teams were surrounding the vacation home Grafton was renting. Steve and Tony went in the front door with Danny, Sachs, and Rob for back-up while Gibbs team took the back. Chin and Kono had taken up sniper points in the unlikely case of Grafton somehow making it out onto the street. Predictably, Grafton tried to run. Was it a wise course of action when surrounded by seven highly trained federal agents, a detective with a temper and a Navy SEAL? No. Regardless, he still tried to escape and even managed to shove Tony into a wall hard enough to cause Tony to black out for a couple of seconds.

When he came to he was slumped against a wall, Sach and Rob crouched next to him while Steve wrestled Grafton to the ground, his knee digging into Grafton's back as he banged his head against the floor to get Grafton to quit struggling before twisting his arms behind him and slapping on cuffs.

"Book 'em Danno," Steve said, mostly out of habit since his eyes were already finding Tony's.

"You alright?" Steve asked as he straightened and came over to help Tony stand.

"Fine, fine," Tony smiled, gently pushing him away. "I've got a hard head. It'll take more than a little shove to dent it."

"That is true," Ziva smiled as she tucked away her gun, pinching a nerve in Grafton's neck that made his go still when he still tried to struggle as Danny led hi out of the house. "Tony has hit his head more times than I can count and he insists that any brain damage was sustained before he joined NCIS."

"I said no such thing," Tony immediately argued. "And I don't have brain damage."

"My apologies," Ziva's smile was sickeningly sweet. "I thought that a grown man must have sort of head injury to still be playing with action figures. If this is not true then perhaps you need to visit a psychiatrist Tony?"

Tony's eyes widened and he spluttered for a moment before jabbing a finger in Ziva's direction.

"You!" He commanded. "You are not allowed anywhere near my friends. You'll completely ruin my reputation."

"A bit late for that, Sir," Sachs smirked and Tony's groan of despair was ridiculously over-exagerated, garnering laughter from the rest of the group.

"C'mon," Steve said, a fond smile curving his lips. "Let's get you to the hospital."

"Uh, how about 'no'?" Tony snorted. "Seriously, it was just a bump."

"You blacked out," Steve pointed out and his eyebrows were beginning to lower into an expression he adopted whenever he was getting ready for a show of dominance so Tony quickly started taking preventive measures.

His fingers slid around Steve's wrist and he tugged, smiling at his team who quickly found something else to do. Ziva also sent him a knowing smirk before turning and engaing McGee in conversation but the frown stayed on Steve's face even as the crowd around them dispersed.

"We could go to the hospital," Tony said, speaking slowly. "but seeing as how we're both pretty much experts in concussions by now, don't you think you'd have much more fun keeping me awake in the privacy of our bedroom?"

"Tony," Steve attempts to be the voice of reason but his eyes kind of glaze over at the suggestion in Tony's voice and he steps closer, hands curling around Tony's hips.

"Commander," Tony replies, coy and flirty and just a little bit smug when Steve's eyes darken predictably.

"What d'you say to closing this thing up so we can head home?" Tony suggests and Steve immediately starts pushing him towards the front door.

"I'd say 'get a move on, DiNozzo'," he laughs and grins at Tony as they both head outside, eager to close the case.

Neither of them notice the icy blue eyes that follow their movements, sliver brows furrowed in thought above them and that's probably a good thing. If Tony were aware of Gibbs' stare then he'd probably have read too much into it. As it was, not everybody was oblivious.

"They're good together," Danny said, looking in the direction Steve and Tony had disappeared to and not meeting Gibbs' gaze when it turned on him. Gibbs merely grunted in response and Danny fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Look," he said and turned to look at Gibbs. "I don't care what beef you've got with DiNozzo and I don't care if you stay on the island with the rest of your team or head back to DC. Personally I'd prefer it if you leave because one ex-Army guy is enough. Seriously. You two hang around each other two long and I'm gonna bust my other knee and probably an elbow as well but that's not the point. My point is that you can do your gruff Navy thing all you want but if you're going against DiNozzo then you're going against Steve too and if you're going against Steve then...well then you'd better get a shovel ready pal because you'll be digging your own grave."

"That a threat?" Gibbs asked, his face impassive.

"I don't make threats," Danny said, "that's Steve's job. Me? I'm the nice guy. So, no, it's not a threat. It's just a statement of fact. I think Tony kinda likes although I have no idea why. You've been an asshole to your entire team and were it me I would have filed for harassment years and millenia ago. Then again, Tony has willingly entered into a relationship with Steve who sees no problem with keeping grenades in the glove compartment of my car so maybe his judgement isn't the best."

"What are you trying to say, Williams?" Gibbs scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nothing much really, just consider this as...friendly advice," Danny smiled but it was completely devoid of humour. "If you're thinking of causing trouble, that's on you. You act on those thoughts and Five-0 will be on your ass so fast your whiplash will have whiplash."

And with that Danny reached out and patted Gibbs on the shoulder and strode out the door before Gibbs could reply.

Steve and Tony were thankfully oblivious that such a conversation had ever taken place as they drove to Tony's apartment. Grafton's house had been a reasonable distance away, in an area popluated by resorts and the like so, even with the lack of traffic, it took them a good half hour to get home. Soon, however, Tony was pushing open the door to his apartment and dropping his keys on the nearby table.

"I totally need a shower," Tony complained as he raised a hand to rub at his face and caught a whiff of body odour. g a wicked twinkle in his eyes.

"Well imagine that," Tony's voice came out low and interest curled in his belly as he met Steve's eyes.

Keeping their gazes locked he began to unbutton his shirt, fingers nimbly working their way downwards and it was merely a matter of moments before he was shrugging off the material and watching Steve's eyes darken as they followed the motion then roamed over the exposed skin of Tony's chest. Tony smiled at traced the path Steve's eyes took, brushing his collarboned with his fingertips before letting his hands slide downwards, tracing over his nipples and then his waist, stomach, hipbones, before landing on the buckle of his belt.

With quick, efficient movements, Tony undid his belt, and unbuttoned his jeans, pulling down the zipper before pushing the materiall off his hips and letting it pool on the floor. Steve's gaze immediately zeroed in on where the Tony's burgeoning erection was visible through the tight material of his boxers and Tony smirked. Without a word he turned and started to make his way to the bathroom and was unsurprised when he was pushed into the wall before he could reach it, Steve's strong body pressing into his back.

"You're a fucking tease, DiNozzo," Steve complained, his lips mouthing at the lines of Tony's neck and his hands shaping and squeezing Tony's ass.

"Me?" Tony pushed back into Steve's touch, letting his head tilt to the side to expose more of his neck. "You're the one that's still dressed."

The heat disappeared from Tony's back but reappeared before Tony had time to do more than blin in surprise and turn around. Then Steve was pushing Tony back against the wall, bare skin sliding against bare skin and their hips automatically slotting together as their mouths met. Tony lost himself in sensation, letting Steve kiss away the stress of having Gibbs back in his life and the throbbing sensation in his head that seemed an inevitable result of such an occurence.

Somehow they made it to the bathroom, stripping of their boxers while the water warmed then immediately coming together once more when they were under the spray. Tony moaned into Steve's mouth, sliding his hands around his neck and letting the SEAL push him against the shower wall. Steve was uncommonly beautiful, all tanned skin and muscle. The water pounded against them, wetting their hair, catching on their eyelashes and tiny little droplets outlining the contours of their bodies.

Both men were hard by now, their cocks heavy between them and Tony reached down, wrapping a hand around them both before twisting his wrist.

"Shit," Steve swore. He let his head fall against Tony's shoulder, pressing a kiss to the wet skin there before letting his tongue come out to lap at the water droplets.

Tony really wanted Steve to fuck him, to open him up slow and filthy then slide into him. It would be a tight fit, Tony knew that from experience but he also knew it would be worth it. He'd been with a few men before Steve but nobody had ever filled him up in quite the same way and Tony really, really wanted to be fucked tonight. Unfortunately, it seemed his body had other ideas because his cock was filling at an alarming pace.

In fact, as Tony's thumb caught on a sticky substance that was most definitely not water, he realised that both him and Steve were already leaking. And they hadn't even gotten to the good part yet. But then Steve's hand was wrapping around Tony's, tighening his hold on their dicks while his other hand slipped around to slide against Tony's ass before slipping between the cheeks, fingers dipping into his hole and Tony's brain promptly short circuited.

It had been a long and frustrating and heartbreaking couple of days because there had been a part of Tony that had hoped that time and distance would work their magic and Gibbs would have gotten over whatever was eating his ass. It was, well it was pretty damn brutal to realise that that was never going to happen and that Tony had lost someone very important to him for absolutely no discernible reason.

But then Steve was bending Tony back a bit,his mouth biting at Tony's neck and shoulders before his tongue laved Tony's nipple. Sharp teeth closed around the hardened nub and Tony came with a shout, his dick pulsing and his cum splashing over their joined hands and some of it landing on their stomachs. Steve followed a few moments later but it took a while for them to come down from their post-orgasmic high. It didn't really matter becuase Tony was content to stay as he was, with Steve wrapped heavy and limp around him and the water washing them clean. After a while Steve lifted his head, smiling at Tony with heavy-lidded eyes before slotting their mouths together in a kiss that was shallow and brimming with affection.

"You said something about wanting to be fucked?" Steve said, his voice hoarse and thoroughly wrecked.

"Did I?" Tony laughed but wasn't surprised that he'd spoken his thoughts ou loud. Instead he reached around Steve to turn off the shower.

"Come on then, Commander," Tony smirked. "to bed with you. I'm gonna need a bit of rest before I'm ready for the next round."

Steve grinned, sharp and wicked and Tony fought the urge to groan. He should have known Steve would take those words as a challenge. Still, a shiver of anticipation raced down his spine as Steve pushed him towards the bedroom. Regrets about Gibbs aside, life on Oahu was shaping up to be very interesting indeed.

* * *

**End Note:**I realise the situation with Gibbs is left unresloved but this was just turning out to be _way_ too long so if you guys are interested I'll do a sequel to tie up loose ends.


End file.
